Do You Hate Christmas And All The Fuss That Goes With It?

Spudmonkey

I like Christmas as a time of year and as a holiday. I like the excuse of sitting down watching/eating more ****e than normal and being back home with the family. I suppose being comfortable and not having negative associations with the time of year gives it that association of hygge that was doing the rounds last year.

What I can't stand is the commercial side, it's madness. Ads on the radio for stuff you don't need, loans that allow you to tide yourself over till the new year and allow you to pay it back over 12 months. What's it all about, seriously?

We've decided to buy a book for one other person in the family, it's a useful present, it doesn't cost much and it's not really a waste. We've slowly being paring it back year on year and now it seems like a good compromise.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

I agree OP. I like all the old fashioned traditions that go with Christmas - Carol singing, nativity plays, Sales of Work, etc etc but all that's being drowned out by big spending, consumerist crap.

And some people really go way OTT with everything. Decorations up in November, gardens lit up like the Blackpool illuminations, crazy spending on stuff people don't need or want, buying Christmas plates, towels, mugs and bedlinen and dragging their kids around every single over priced Christmas fair/Winter wonderland/Santa Land/Meet Rudolph/Santa Train in town so they have loads of stuff to post on Facebook.

Christmas is nice - in December, not the minute Hallowe'en is over.
But no need for a six foot mountain of presents under the tree, or to meet every friend you've ever had in the two weeks before Christmas for an overpriced 'Christmas Menu', or all that stuff.

I think we could do with going back to basics where Christmas is concerned and stop allowing ourselves to be conned into spending a fortune on food we won't get around to eating and expensive presents that will end up in charity shops or sitting unused at the back of a wardrobe.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

andekwarhola wrote: »

Everybody has an annoying friend that bores the tits off all and sundry about the 'commercialism' (and other perennial student nuggets) of Christmas and their own strict timeline as to when it's allowed to begin.

It's a pity they all seem to converge on Boards every year.

If people feel that Christmas is being ruined or compromised by the overly commercialised parts of it, that's a valid view whether you like it or not. You're perfectly entitled to put your decorations up in mid November and I'm perfectly entitled to think that's daft.

freshpopcorn

Hector Some Chemist wrote: »

I agree OP. I like all the old fashioned traditions that go with Christmas - Carol singing, nativity plays, Sales of Work, etc etc but all that's being drowned out by big spending, consumerist crap.

All these old fashioned traditions you mentioned are happening in every town/village in my area!

c68zapdsm5i1ru

freshpopcorn wrote: »

All these old fashioned traditions you mentioned are happening in every town/village in my area!

Yes, and I still like them. But they've become less central to Christmas now amidst all the tack and crap and hassle.

freshpopcorn

Hector Some Chemist wrote: »

Yes, and I still like them. But they've become less central to Christmas now amidst all the tack and crap and hassle.

But if you want your Christmas to be surrounded by these things/events. It's fair easy to do it in my opinion. Nobody is forcing people to buy stuff/etc but they choose to.

pilly

Just a couple of examples where people are FORCED to buy stuff.

1. Kris Kindle in work
2. Colleague just said to me "we'd better get something for the bosses kids, I'll pick up something at the weekend and you can give me the money"
3. Christmas Parties. Despite me saying "no, not going" about 10 times now, I know I will be pushed into in the end.

_Dara_

castletownman wrote: »

I hate how it's almost "forced" on you to love everything about it.

Or how you are called a grinch if you have the audacity to criticise even one aspect of it.

So true. Huz said that happened in work last year when he tentatively suggested that he was a tad sick of constant Christmas FM being played in the office. My own recollection of Christmas FM is that they only play a small pool of songs and omit some really good ones. Of course you’d get sick of it. And my huz LOVES Christmas.

There are genuinely people who subtly browbeat people into jollity! They can’t accept that people celebrate it in different ways.

freshpopcorn

pilly wrote: »

Just a couple of examples where people are FORCED to buy stuff.

1. Kris Kindle in work
2. Colleague just said to me "we'd better get something for the bosses kids, I'll pick up something at the weekend and you can give me the money"
3. Christmas Parties. Despite me saying "no, not going" about 10 times now, I know I will be pushed into in the end.

We had a Kris kindle at work and college and only does who wanted to do it did it.
If you wanted to be included you put you name in the hat.
Don't know much about buying a gift for the bosses kids for Christmas. I never heard of this to be honest.
I didn't go to Christmas parties I didn't want to in the past. I just said no and stuck to my guns.

quickbeam

pilly wrote: »

2. Colleague just said to me "we'd better get something for the bosses kids, I'll pick up something at the weekend and you can give me the money"

Is that a "thing" now????? :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

pilly

_Dara_ wrote: »

So true. Huz said that happened in work last year when he tentatively suggested that he was a tad sick of constant Christmas FM being played in the office. My own recollection of Christmas FM is that they only play a small pool of songs and omit some really good ones. Of course you’d get sick of it. And my huz LOVES Christmas.

There are genuinely people who subtly browbeat people into jollity! They can’t accept that people celebrate it in different ways.

I'd have to take a months leave if Christmas FM was played in the office. :mad:

c68zapdsm5i1ru

freshpopcorn wrote: »

But if you want your Christmas to be surrounded by these things/events. It's fair easy to do it in my opinion. Nobody is forcing people to buy stuff/etc but they choose to.

No, but people can feel very pressurised, particularly if they have kids who want what all the other children on the road are getting etc.

No man is an Island and all that. We are all affected by general trends and changes.

pilly

quickbeam wrote: »

Is that a "thing" now????? :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

It is around here, we did the same last year. Tbf he is very good to us and the kids are cute but it's just the fact that it's presumed you can afford it.

Same with Christmas do "are sure he's paying". Yeah but you still have to get something to wear, get a taxi and pretend you're fcuking enjoying yourself. :D

I know, I really am the Grinch.

quickbeam

freshpopcorn wrote: »

We had a Kris kindle at work and college and only does who wanted to do it did it.

Some workplaces are more forgiving of people who don't want to partake in KK than others. I guess "force" in a literal sense doesn't happen, but it is very much peer pressured in to it in some places, in my experience.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

quickbeam wrote: »

Some workplaces are more forgiving of people who don't want to partake in KK than others. I guess "force" in a literal sense doesn't happen, but it is very much peer pressured in to it in some places, in my experience.

We had a KK last year. It was low key, fun and had a strict and small limit on what you could spend. Then someone suggested that we should up the spending limit and buy 'proper' presents for each other. That is how nice, cheap and fun things end up becoming stressful and expensive. Some people can't just leave things as they are, but are constantly trying to 'better' them and make them flashier and tackier and more competitive.

freshpopcorn

Hector Some Chemist wrote: »

No, but people can feel very pressurised, particularly if they have kids who want what all the other children on the road are getting etc.

No man is an Island and all that. We are all affected by general trends and changes.

I still think it's sort of your own choice tough. I was always told that Santa can only bring you a few things because he has to get stuff for all the other boys/girls as were most people.
I remember seeing a woman giving out last year that her kid looked at the smyths catalogue and they said they wanted €1000's worth of gifts and it was all the shops/marketing's/etc fault.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I still think it's sort of your own choice tough. I was always told that Santa can only bring you a few things because he has to get stuff for all the other boys/girls as were most people.
I remember seeing a woman giving out last year that her kid looked at the smyths catalogue and they said they wanted €1000's worth of gifts and it was all the shops/marketing's/etc fault.

Oh I agree and I've really taken a step back from a lot of the crap I used to go along with. But when you're surrounded by so much greed and manic buying and stressed and hassled people it's difficult to totally ignore the crasser side of Christmas or to not find it a bit depressing.

I used to absolutely love Christmas. The magic of Santy had a huge impact on me as a child and I got really caught up in it all. I still have precious books I received filled with Christmas stories of victorian families sitting around a tree as high as the ceiling. The dinner was special with all the bells and whistles. We had a big cake and crackers and sat around the table wearing paper crowns. As I got older the magic faded but it was still a nice time.

These days however it is a struggle. The busyness of the shops drain me. I'm not able for all the people and the rush. Meeting friends is something I do throughout the year, eating far too much is another thing I don't need a special reason to do. The whole thing passes me by.

freshpopcorn

Hector Some Chemist wrote: »

Oh I agree and I've really taken a step back from a lot of the crap I used to go along with. But when you're surrounded by so much greed and manic buying and stressed and hassled people it's difficult to totally ignore the crasser side of Christmas or to not find it a bit depressing.

I understand you. I like Christmas and in my experience does who don't like it always seem to have an excuse. They can't afford it, family away, to much food, not enough food, same with presents, family are away and when there at home their fighting, no matter what style of Christmas they have they don't seem to like it. My aunts always say it was so much better back in the old days and ask anybody who knows her. She wasn't happy then either she just wants a excuse.

freshpopcorn

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I understand you. I like Christmas and in my experience does who don't like it always seem to have an excuse. They can't afford it, family away, to much food, not enough food, same with presents, family are away and when there at home their fighting, no matter what style of Christmas they have they don't seem to like it. My aunts always say it was so much better back in the old days and ask anybody who knows her. She wasn't happy then either she just wants a excuse.

Or maybe those who don't like it are grieving or alone or a million other things that matter to them and are not just "an excuse".

freshpopcorn

Deleted User wrote: »

Or maybe those who don't like it are grieving or alone or a million other things that matter to them and are not just "an excuse".

I give you that. Some people are upset after loved one's but some people just hate Christmas and no matter what you do for them will make them happy.

pilly

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I give you that. Some people are upset after loved one's but some people just hate Christmas and no matter what you do for them will make them happy.

Why are you so bothered about that though?

I don't get it? Why do people feel the need to force others to "enjoy" Christmas? I don't feel the need to force anyone not to enjoy it?

freshpopcorn

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I give you that. Some people are upset after loved one's but some people just hate Christmas and no matter what you do for them will make them happy.

Many many people find Christmas difficult for different reasons and they may never find happiness in the season. Traumatic memories, depression, death, illness, being far away from home, and on it goes. It's a loaded time filled with expectation and I think it's ok if people hate it no matter what. Let them be.

freshpopcorn

pilly wrote: »

Why are you so bothered about that though?

I don't get it? Why do people feel the need to force others to "enjoy" Christmas? I don't feel the need to force anyone not to enjoy it?

I'm not bothered about it and I don't think people should force others to enjoy it but they give you a list of what they want for the perfect Christmas and then then they land onto your house and all they do is complain about it.
Do you get that?

pilly

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I'm not bothered about it and I don't think people should force others to enjoy it but they give you a list of what they want for the perfect Christmas and then then they land onto your house and all they do is complain about it.
Do you get that?

I've no idea what you're talking about now, it's obviously a personal experience of yours.

But yeah, if someone does that then they're ungrateful pricks.

freshpopcorn

Deleted User wrote: »

Many many people find Christmas difficult for different reasons and they may never find happiness in the season. Traumatic memories, depression, death, illness, being far away from home, and on it goes. It's a loaded time filled with expectation and I think it's ok if people hate it no matter what. Let them be.

Yes, I totally agree with you but you shouldn't want to make everybody else miserable in my opinion!

pilly

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Yes, I totally agree with you but you shouldn't want to make everybody else miserable in my opinion!

You're getting het up about this fresh when there's no need.

You've obviously had a bad experience with someone who doesn't like Christmas but the vast majority don't go around making others miserable so stop accusing people of doing that.

Also, take a look at how self-centred that is. If you're good friend lost their mother this month for example would you expect them to either be in good form at Christmas or stay away from you? Because that's what you're suggesting.

You've already said don't visit and don't make others miserable.

castletownman

Deleted User wrote: »

Many many people find Christmas difficult for different reasons and they may never find happiness in the season. Traumatic memories, depression, death, illness, being far away from home, and on it goes. It's a loaded time filled with expectation and I think it's ok if people hate it no matter what. Let them be.

A hugely valid point that tends to get totally lost in the ether this time of year. It's always assumed that Christmas is a magical time for everyone.

From my own POV, finances are only trickling in since the paper I worked for folded in the summer, my grandad passed away in October so it'll be my first christmas without him, my GF's granny coincidentally died a month later and she is in the same boat, while we have a wedding that I am admittedly looking forward to ten days before xmas but that will dent the bank balance too. So the in-your-face festive cheer can take a hike as far as I'm concerned.

And I know there are countless others in a similar position. And may be suffering silently. So people should bear that mind when trying to spread enthusiasm onto those with a "meh" mindset

irishrover99

I really don't mind it other than completely over commercialization of it. My kids are already been overloaded by it on Tv,pre school plays,shopping centers.
I've nothing against people using it as a reason to be happy,except for when its over they have to realize its back to the grind of normal day to day.
Having to small kids and a Wife who is not Irish and didn't grow up wit Xmas helps make it exciting.
The misses already wanted to put the tree up this week and i had to put the breaks on it at least for another week.
My favourite part about it this year is my 4 days in a row off work.
Then in Feb it's off to SE Asia with the family for a bit so Xmas for me this year is really a stocking filler for what i'm really looking forward too.

freshpopcorn

pilly wrote: »

I've no idea what you're talking about now, it's obviously a personal experience of yours.

But yeah, if someone does that then they're ungrateful pricks.

I've relatives and they said all they wanted was the whole family home around the table and when we went to a lot of hassle getting people home/etc and when this was organised the house was to crowded/the expense that was put on the people home/the cost of the dinner and it would have being better if everybody wasn't there.
Same with decorations. I was asked to decorate a relatives house and I went told I over the top and they asked me the next year and I only put up a few bits and I didn't put up enough.
Another things was with a Kris kindle in a place my sister worked the limit used be €10 and people complained about the rubbish that they were given so they wanted the limit uped to around €40 and the same people were complaining.

I get that people can be upset/lonely at Christmas and I have no issue with this.

eviltimeban

It is commericalised but you can get around that by not buying into it (no pun intended).

I have two small kids so we're smack bang in the middle of it all, but have decided that certain rules apply. They ask for five things from Santa. We throw in a few stocking fillers (books, dvd, small toy, markers). Grandparents give them something small, or money. That makes the whole thing manageable.

As they have gotten a little older we've discovered the best thing about the few days covering Christmas is spending time together. So we watch movies, go for walks, eat, talk and play board games, and that's really the best thing about it all.

ArnoldJRimmer

I enjoy the family and friends aspect of Christmas, particularly as I'm an emigrant and only get home twice a year. However, the fuss surrounding Christmas drives me mad

Shopping for my nieces and nephews is quite fun, love looking at Lego for instance, but for everyone else its a pain in the a*s. There's also the crowds everywhere, shops are crazy, traffic is crazy, cant even go for a quiet pint (last year, there were 12 pubs minibuses pottering around rural Donegal).

Itssoeasy

I don't hate Christmas but as the years have gone on it's become harder to enjoy it because of people who aren't here like my grandparents.

I'm not a person who does well in crowded social settings at the best of times and Christmas seems to be all about if you let it which makes it far worse. Also being single and in my thirties and most of my cousins and family either married or have kids or both means they seem to far more excited for it.

_Dara_

Deleted User wrote: »

Many many people find Christmas difficult for different reasons and they may never find happiness in the season. Traumatic memories, depression, death, illness, being far away from home, and on it goes. It's a loaded time filled with expectation and I think it's ok if people hate it no matter what. Let them be.

Because I have terminal cancer now, Christmas is bittersweet for me. How many more of these will I get? How will my family find Christmas after I'm gone? It's tough.

And New Year's is worse. It's always inspired mixed feelings in me but those feelings are more acute now and tend towards the negative. New Year's is all about making plans for the future and deciding how to better yourself and move your life forward. It really highlights how different my life is now to that of my peers who are planning careers, families, house-buying and wild holidays. My only plan is to try and make it through another year and hope my health doesn't deteriorate much and maybe, maybe try to get abroad a good few times in the year.

So that's a snapshot of one person who finds the season a bit trying and my reasons for it.

pilly

pilly wrote: »

I'd have to take a months leave if Christmas FM was played in the office. :mad:

I'll have it on nearly permanently in the car from now until new years :pac:

I got a dose of excitement last Tuesday when it launched for this year

_Dara_

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Another things was with a Kris kindle in a place my sister worked the limit used be €10 and people complained about the rubbish that they were given so they wanted the limit uped to around €40 and the same people were complaining.

These people are just complainers then and it has nothing to do with Christmas.

topper75

November and early December are grand times of year in their own right. Nature is asleep. Things aren't hectic and you can get time to think for once.

If only people would let those months be.

A months-long build up to one day is not exactly the best mental health strategy I've ever encountered.

Commercialism will never let us dial it back though. So it is up to people to ACTIVELY reject it.

end of the road

the whole fuss and commercialism around it is annoying but i'm lucky that i don't have to buy into any of it. christmas for me starts on christmas eve and ends stephens day. relax on christmas eve, a nice dinner and a few drinks christmas day and relaxing again stephens day. it's done and dusted until next christmas eve. i don't hate it and i don't love it either, i just appreciate it for what it is, a nice few days off from the world. i don't do turkey either. it works for me.

I love Christmas but I hate that for the last few years it has started a solid month (at least) too early. Like so many things nowadays, it is a case of "too much of a good thing" - having 2 months of Christmas dilutes the enjoyment gotten from it enormously. When I was a kid we put up our decorations maybe 10 days before and it was perfect.

andekwarhola

Bobby Early Cobble wrote: »

I'll have it on nearly permanently in the car from now until new years :pac:

I got a dose of excitement last Tuesday when it launched for this year

I just have a playlist of decent Xmas songs I'll put on on the car because some of stuff on Xmas FM would even test the patience of a committed Christmas lover like me.

Bellerstring

Stoner wrote: »

For as long as I can remember people have been moaning about Christmas starting in "November this year"

Christmas is great.

No it's not.

freshpopcorn

I do think Christmas are a little like weddings people who make a massive fuss out of make everything perfect generally end up making the event less enjoyable and it's the same for the people attending

screamer

Christmas is what you chose to make it. If flapping around spending money on ****e that no one wants and stressing yourself out is your idea of Christmas then it's your thing. Personally I love Christmas time for family quality time with my kids time to make nice memories, to reflect on the past year and be grateful for the good things that happened to us. Santa sorts the kids presents I sort the food and adults buy their own presents. Simple quiet Christmas. I love it.

splinter65

whisky_galore wrote: »

Perhaps if Old Catholic Ireland didn't try to brush things under the carpet it wouldn't have changed so much?

You reap what you sow.

Oh it hasn’t changed. It’s gone. And we’ve replaced it with an Aldi ad featuring a carrot.
It’s so much better now, isn’t it?

splinter65

freshpopcorn wrote: »

All these old fashioned traditions you mentioned are happening in every town/village in my area!

They’ve been shoved out of the way by the brute force of iPhone etc
If the proceeds of the sale of work and the entrance fee to the school nativity play weren’t going to some local charity no one would go to it.

pilly

screamer wrote:

Christmas is what you chose to make it. If flapping around spending money on ****e that no one wants and stressing yourself out is your idea of Christmas then it's your thing. Personally I love Christmas time for family quality time with my kids time to make nice memories, to reflect on the past year and be grateful for the good things that happened to us. Santa sorts the kids presents I sort the food and adults buy their own presents. Simple quiet Christmas. I love it.

What? Santa actually comes to your house? I wanna live there!

Atoms for Peace

I starting to feel an urge to **** something at the TV due to those fake maudlin ads about grannies Christmas diner etc..

freshpopcorn

splinter65 wrote: »

They’ve been shoved out of the way by the brute force of iPhone etc
If the proceeds of the sale of work and the entrance fee to the school nativity play weren’t going to some local charity no one would go to it.

The only people I know who go to a school Nativity play are the parents. In some churches in my area the schools do the nativity but regularly church goers nearly all avoid it because it just a bunch of children. I don't think there's any entrance fee to any of these events.
The entrance fee to any local markets/etc in my experience generally goes to the up keep of the hall/center.

pilly

Atoms for Peace wrote:

I starting to feel an urge to **** something at the TV due to those fake maudlin ads about grannies Christmas diner etc..

Imagine how someone with no family feels.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Hector Some Chemist wrote: »

I agree OP. I like all the old fashioned traditions that go with Christmas - Carol singing, nativity plays, Sales of Work, etc etc but all that's being drowned out by big spending, consumerist crap.

And some people really go way OTT with everything. Decorations up in November, gardens lit up like the Blackpool illuminations, crazy spending on stuff people don't need or want, buying Christmas plates, towels, mugs and bedlinen and dragging their kids around every single over priced Christmas fair/Winter wonderland/Santa Land/Meet Rudolph/Santa Train in town so they have loads of stuff to post on Facebook.

Christmas is nice - in December, not the minute Hallowe'en is over.
But no need for a six foot mountain of presents under the tree, or to meet every friend you've ever had in the two weeks before Christmas for an overpriced 'Christmas Menu', or all that stuff.

I think we could do with going back to basics where Christmas is concerned and stop allowing ourselves to be conned into spending a fortune on food we won't get around to eating and expensive presents that will end up in charity shops or sitting unused at the back of a wardrobe.

Going way back when I was a young fellow our local Brass Band would go around our neighbourhood on Christmas Eve playing Christmas Carols and we would all join in and sing it really was amazing to see all our neighbours out on a cold Christmas Eve enjoying the festivities. Unfortunately that doesn't happen anymore and it was my favourite old tradition also we used to make our own Christmas Logs another tradition that has died a death because of commercialism. You can now by them in most stores so people don't make them any more.